Shipping-case and cabinet



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

o. MADsoN. SHIPPING GASP AND CABINET. No. 532,279. Patented Jan. 8, 1895.

(No Model.) 2 snetsQsheet- 2.

C. MADSON.

SHIPPING GASE AND ABINET. v No. 532,279. Y Patented Jan, 8, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEricE.N

CORNELIUS MADSON, OF MANITOWOC, nWISCONSIN.

SHIPPING-CASE AND CABINET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 532,279, dated January 8, 1895. Application matrigna 1,1894. serai No. 519,152. (No model.)

To rif/ZZ whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, CORNELIUS MADsoN, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Shipping-Case and' Cabinet, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a combined shipping case and cabinet for merchandise which is put up and sold in packages-as, for example, flower and other vegetable seeds, aniline dyes, &c.; and the object of the invention is to provide a case so constructed that its parts can be arranged to furnish a suitable shipping case and also so as to form a suitable cabinet in which the packages can be exposed to View and from which they may be sold.

vTo this end the invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as hereinafter described and particularlypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the preferred form of my invention arranged as a shipping case. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing it as a cabinet. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the cabinet. Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views of a modified form of the invention, the former showing the case and the latter the cabinet.

In the preferred construction, the article is composed of three sections, marked respectively, A, B and C, the former composed of a tapered cabinet provided with a central longitudinal partition D and open pigeon holes E.' The sections B and C are of like form to each other, their closed sides being straight while their open sides are inclined. They are provided with pigeon holes or compartments E. The sections B, C are hinged to the section A and may be folded so as to inclose the latter, as shown in Fig. l, and then fastened by any suitable form of catch. In Fig. l plain straps o are shown for securing the seotions together when folded. When used as a cabinet the sections B, C are opened so as to support the section A, as seen in Fig. 2, and the cabinet thus formed may be set upon a counter and serve to display packages of seeds, dyes or the like which are placed on end in the several compartments, as indicated at a.

the compartments to keep the packages from falling out.

Instead of making the sections of the form shown in Figs. 1, 2 and. 8, they may be made as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, wherein each of the sections, marked A', B', C', and corresponding respectively to the sections A, B, C are in the form of a parallelopiped.

Some of the advantages of this device are as follows: It furnishes a convenient shipping case in which the packages may be arranged by the packer and can be sent by freight or express without boxingfor inclosing it. When received by the retailer it` only requires the spreading of the sections to convert it into a cabinet of convenient and attractive form in which the contents of every compartment can be exposed to view.

In the preferred construction, the form of the compartments in cross section is such as to adapt them to hold a large number of packages without waste space. The packages as usual are putin so that they stand on end when exposed for sale. In this position the contents of the packages settle into their'bottoms and hence the bulk is at the wider portions of the compartments.

The details of construction may be varied; as, for example, while I prefer to hinge the sections together, they may be disconnected except during shipment and when arranged in the manner shown in Fig. 2 can be made self supporting as a cabinet.

I claim-- l. A combined shipping case and cabinet, comprising in combination three sections, one of which is providedwith pigeon holes on two `sides and the other section having pigeon holes on one side only and adapted when arranged face to face to close the compartments of the first named section and when arranged.

back to back to support the latter, substantially as described.

2. A combined shipping case and cabinet comprisingin combination three sections, one of which has two open sides and the others each having one open side, the last named sections being hinged to the other but on opposite sides thereof, whereby they may be disposed back to back and adapted to support ICO Io partments or pigeon holes, substantially as described.

4. A combined shipping case and cabinet composed of three sections, each having its interior divided into compartments, one of said sections having both its sides tapering and the other sections each having one straight and one tapering side and said last described sections being hinged at their narrower sides to the margins of the broad side of the rst described section, substantially as described. z a

CORN ELlUS MADSON. Witnesses:

R. H. MARKHAM, LYDIA VILS. 

